By Whitney Cranshaw, specialist in entomology, Colorado State University
Cooperative Extension

There are few more widespread but erroneous urban legends about any arthropod than the
one that claims that the daddy longlegs spider is potentially dangerous. Typically,
the story goes, "The daddy longlegs is the most poisonous spider in the world, but
its jaws are too weak to bite."

This is untrue in many ways. Most important, daddy longlegs don't even possess
poison glands. They may feed on small, soft-bodied insects, but many also feed on
plant juices. They feed on these by sucking the fluids that are available after they
crush plants with their weak jaws.

Daddy longlegs also are not spiders. They are very different arthropods, members
of the order Opiliones.

It's common to see these benign animals late in the season as they become full-grown.
In Britain, they are referred to as "harvestmen," reflecting the fact
that they wander about during the harvest period.